In The Blink of an Eye
by Horsetamer5
Summary: Every one likes to think they are invincible, that they cannot be hurt by anything. However, real invincibility is the ability to come back and resume life after a life changing event. takes place, post-Avengers Trigger Warning. Please Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**  
_It all happened so fast, one minute they were driving down the winding road of the Catskills. The next, they awoke in a ravine, trapped under more than 1000 lbs of metal, glass and plastic. Two innocent souls, cold, injured, and alone, all because of one, stupid, drunk driver._  
Thor Odinson sat in the hospital waiting room with his head in his hands. He and his younger brother had been hit by a drunk driver earlier that evening. While Thor escaped with only a mild concussion, his younger brother Loki had been rushed into emergency surgery. Loki been thrown from the car as it rolled down the ravine, when the paramedics found him, he was barely alive. He had been pinned under a piece of debris from the car wreck, it had crushed both of his legs and had caused internal bleeding. The doctor said that even if Loki made it through the surgery, he would never be the same again.  
The first thing that Loki noticed when he opened his eyes, was the strange absence of pain. He also felt a hand on his arm and heard a voice quietly say " Hello little brother how are you feeling?" it was Thor.  
"Where am I?" Loki asked.  
"You are in the hospital, Loki." answered Thor, "we were in a car wreck last night, you were thrown from the car." Just as Thor was about to continue, one of the doctors entered the room. "Hello Loki," she said gently, "I'm doctor Carter, I helped with your surgery last night. I'm glad to see that you're awake, you were on death's door when they brought you in; it is a miracle that you made it out of that mess alive." she paused, smiling, then asked "can you feel your legs or arm at all?" she frowned when Loki shook his head. "are you in any pain?" this time, Loki nodded, pointing to his stomach. "I'll give you some medicine once I finish checking you over." Dr. Carter promised.  
Once she was finished examining the boy, she sat down on the bed, looking at both men in the room.  
"Well," she began, "the good news is that everything seems to be healing," she paused, took a deep breath and continued, "However, the chances of Loki ever being able to walk normally again are very slim." Deciding, that it would be best to give them time to process the news, she gently patted Loki's shoulder and quietly left the room.  
" I thought Asgardians were supposed to be invincible," Loki said quietly, tears streaming down his face. "I faced unimaginable torture and mind control by the Chitauri and came out with barely a scratch, but I get in one stupid car accident and I may never walk again. Its not fair!" he sobbed.  
Ignoring the fact that his brother was twenty six years old, Thor gently drew Loki into a strong embrace. "Its going to be alright, brother," Thor said soothingly, "everything is going to be alright." They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, before Loki finally exhausted himself and fell into the dark oblivion of sleep.  
Thor smiled as he gently stroked his brother's hair, _it is all going to be alright,_ he thought. It wasn't going to be easy, but somehow they would turn out just fine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**_****_

He stood on the edge of the skyscraper, frozen, he could see and hear everything around him, all of the screams, all of those innocent people, dead by his hand. It was horrible. The Chitauri were in his head, commanding him to kill, twisting his mind for their own sick pleasure. He had no control, they owned him.

Loki those few days very clearly. Although he didn't remember much of the attack on New York, his first capture by the Avengers was still very fresh in his mind. He had desperately wanted to run to his brother and apologize, to explain everything. However, the Chitauri forced him to hurt and seemingly disown Thor. Yet, despite this, Thor and the Avengers had still saved him when the Chitauri attempted to kill him. They helped him when he first was released from the mind control, he was terrified that he would be tortured or even killed. But no, they never seemed to blame him for any part of the invasion and even forgave him for hurting them.

Thor seemed to act as if nothing had ever happened, he had comforted Loki after he was released from the Chitauri, assuring him that no one would ever hurt him again. Now, he assured Loki that this accident could have happened to anyone, Asgardian or not. He continued Loki as he cried, telling him that everything was going to be alright, and that they were going to get through this. That night, Loki felt much safer than he had in many months, in the arms of his big brother.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**

"Why can't I do it?!" Loki screamed, tears of frustration shining in his eyes, this had been his fifth attempt at standing on his own and he had failed miserably.  
"Loki," Dr. Bruce Banner said soothingly, placing a hand on the young man's back; "It's only been three weeks since the accident, you can't expect to get it the first or even second time. When I was hurt in an explosion, I had to learn to do the exact same thing that you do now. It took me months to retrain my legs to move so that I could walk, you'll be able to do it eventually, but its gonna take time."  
Loki sighed and began to try again.  
_It had been a normal night, they drove down the winding road; joking with each other about what would happen if their car broke down right there on the mountain side. As the car rounded a corner, a flash of light blinded them for a second; and then, he felt the impact. He was thrown forward, gasping as the seat belt was jammed into his throat, his head smacked into the dashboard with a sickening CRACK, that was when he blacked out. When he came to again, he immeditely felt the pain, panicking, he screamed out for Thor, for Clint, for someone to make it all stop. It was horrible, there was blood everywhere; he saw the mangled body of the other driver, but he could not see his brother. "Help!" he shouted "Somebody, help us!"and then he woke up._  
Thor stood over his brother, trying to shake him out of the nightmare, nothing seemed to be working. Suddenly, Loki let out a blood curdling scream and sat up; he seemed to be disoriented and he was panicking. Realising that his Loki was in danger of aggravating his injuries, Thor pulled his brother into an embrace and held him to his chest. Realising that he was safe, Loki began to cry.  
"Shh, brother" Thor said as he gently stroked Loki's back, "It was just a dream, you are safe, no one can hurt you."  
"I was so scared," cried Loki, "I was in so much pain and I couldn't find you, I thought that you had died."  
"I'm here Loki, we are both safe, its alright." Thor stayed holding his brother through the night, protecting him. He only moved when the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**

It had started about three months after the accident, although he was walking again, Loki knew that he would never be normal. The visions and flashbacks started each day around  
sundown and tortured him through the night. One afternoon, he was in one of the labs, working on a project when he accidently cut his hand. He stared, mesmerized as the hot blood ran down his arm; instead of pain, he felt a sense of relief. Ever since then, it had become like an addiction. he knew that it was wrong, but every time he did it he felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. _It is strange,_ he thought, _I should feel pain but I don't._ He was very careful in making sure that no one ever found out. No one suspected anything for those few months. However, that all changed when the two brothers returned to Asgard.  
Loki sat at the table, wringing his hands in his lap, needed to get out of here now. Feeling in his pocket, he relaxed as his hand found the razor blade; good, he thought, I can make it through this. He did not realize how tightly he was clasping the blade until he felt something wet on his hand, it was blood.  
It was then that he began to feel it, the dull ache that was beginning to spread in his hand. After only a few seconds, the dull ache turned into a burning pain. It felt as if a thousand red hot needles were piercing his hand; he felt dizzy. The last thing he heard before he fell into the all consuming darkness was his father voice calling out to him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**

Loki's eyes fluttered open, _Where Am I,_ he thought. He tried to sit up but groaned as the motion sent a searing pain through his arm.  
"Easy, son don't try to move yet," said a voice, "you lost a lot of blood from your wound, it will take time for you to fully recover."  
Looking up, Loki saw his father, Odin standing in the doorway.  
"What happened?" Loki asked.  
"You cut yourself very badly with a blade," Odin answered walking over to the side of the bed. "The healers say that you severed a major tendon in your hand, it will heal but it will take time. You nearly bled to death, Loki; I can't tell you how scared I was that the healers would not be able to save you." Loki looked down, blinking tears from his eyes, he felt his father gently grip his shoulder.  
"I want you tell me something, Loki" Odin said gently, "and I want you to answer honestly, I will not be angry at you." Loki nodded silently.  
"why did you have that blade with you in the first place?" asked Odin.  
There was a pause, then, "I wanted to hurt myself," Loki answered, his breath hitching.  
Odin closed his eyes, he was dreading the answer to this question but he knew it must be asked, "Loki, how long have you been doing this?"  
"On and off for the past few months," Loki answered, trembling.  
"Why, my son?" Odin asked gently, "why would you want to hurt yourself like this?"  
"Because of everything that has happened," Loki said, tears streaming down his face. "I wasn't strong enough to resist the Chitauri and now, I can barely recover from this car accident. I'm a failure, I'm a monster I deserve to be hurt."  
"No, Loki" said Odin, drawing his son into a strong embrace, " you are not a failure or a monster, you are a good and kind person who was treated unfairly and unjustly."  
Odin held his son close to his chest, Loki was trembling and sobbing uncontrollably now; "It's alright, Loki" he said gently, "you are safe here, no one can hurt you." They stayed like that for what seemed like hours until Loki was able to relax and sleep. Odin smiled as he gently lay his son in his bed, "good night, my son, I am so proud of you and I love you so much."  
As he walked out the door, Odin heard a small whisper, "goodnight_ Father._"


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**

"Loki, stop picking at your stitches!" Odin scolded for the third time, "if you keep that up, your hand will never heal."  
"Yeah," said Thor putting down the book he was reading, "and then you'll lose your hand and never be able to fight me again."  
"Thor!" scolded his mother, Frigga.  
"What?" asked Thor, "It could happen."  
"True, it could" said Loki, "but even then I could still beat you in a horse race any day."  
"you could not"  
"yes I could," said Loki smiling.  
"Well," said Odin as his sons launched into yet another argument, "at least they are acting like brothers again."

**-End-**


End file.
